San Antonio Regional

The Robo Vikes recently attended the Alamo Regional in San Antonio. The regional was held in St.Mary’s gym on their campus. If you haven’t been to a competition it’s like a sporting event with robots. Everyone has a lot of energy and the atmosphere is always charged with excitement.

The first day the pit crew worked quickly to significantly change the robot for inspection. The shooter was reconfigured, and some belts on the drivetrain were switched out for chains. Once the alterations were complete the robot got inspected and cleared to go on the field to play.

The scouts were working hard as well. Members split up into groups to talk to every team about their robot. The groups had a list of questions to fill out for every team to gain insight on the workings of their robot. This insight is vital during alliance selections. After gathering the needed data, the scouts discussed the designs that stood out to them.

The qualification matches began on Friday. We played well, working to fill our vault as well as take possession of the switches and the scale. At the end of the day we had played 6 matches. The scouting team recorded the stats for every robot and playings teams.

After dinner the scouting team had a meeting with the drive team and mentor Kevin LaPerierre. At this meeting they worked together using the collected stats and info to decide on a list of teams to pick during alliance selection.

Saturday was the last day of competition and it dawned with our last four qualification matches. When alliance selections began we were ranked 10th. After teams picked each other in the top 8 we became the 7th seed alliance captain. For our alliance we chose teams 3345 and 2723.

We were up against the 2nd seed alliance in the first round of the playoffs. After two intense matches we did not come out victorious. Despite this, we learned and thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company. In celebration of our accomplishments we enjoyed BBQ at Kent Black’s.

If you haven’t experienced robotics and would like to consider joining the team, we are always looking for mentors or students to join! The experience is one-of-a-kind.